A Song of Dust and Aura
by Sgt. Sporky
Summary: A series of oneshots inspired by music and lyrics, covering what I hope will be a broad range of genres. To be updated as my muse hits me with a frying pan.
1. Chapter 1

_"In the end, we're all just chalk lines, drawn on the concrete only to be washed away. And for the time that I've been given, I am what I am." - Five Finger Death Punch, _Never Enough

_**§SS§**_

Weiss Schnee stared down her father with a glare that would have cowed most men. Mister Schnee was not so much cowed as simply impressed- he'd taught her to do that, and he was so, so proud of how well she'd learned. He was disappointed, however, in how slow she was being to learn that defying him was a bad decision. He expected better of his eldest. "You are not going, young lady. Leave the hunting to those who have nothing better to do, and come to your senses!"

His little girl's glare intensified, and with it, both his pride in her determination and his shame for her inability to listen. She was a difficult, confusing child, no matter how much he loved her. "And just why not?" Weiss asked. Her sharp tone both angered him and served to remind him that she wasn't so little anymore.

"Because I worry about you, and you have a company to run when I am gone! I will not have my heiress running about endangering herself for nothing!"

Weiss' hand came to rest on Myrtenaster's hilt in a silent threat. "You know, Father," she said, "I've never heard you call me by my name. 'Girl, child, my daughter.' But never my name. I'm starting to doubt you really care."

The older man snorted. "Oh, take your hand off of that weapon. As if you would stand a chance. That's just sad. Weiss, believe me, I care. If I didn't, I'd tell you to go do what you want," he spat. "But I do, so you won't."

Weiss gave a haughty sniff of her own in return. She was getting tired of this. "I'd skewer you like a pig if you weren't my father."

"Then try," he challenged, tiring of her defiance.

"If you would listen to your daughter, you would have caught the second part of that statement," she snapped. "You're still my father."

The old man sighed. "Then let the living armor be your opponent in my stead. Maybe that will teach you something. If you can defeat that, then you can go to Beacon to become a huntress. But until then you're to stay in your-"

"Where is the thing, then?! Neither of us is getting any younger, and I will not look back on my life the day I die and regret every moment of it because I never got to be me! I am who and what I am, and if you were a better father, you'd love me for it," she snapped, infuriated. "I have a limited number of heartbeats and I refuse to waste them debating my fate with someone who has no right to control it! You don't own me, Father."

The business leader looked shocked. She'd never had the gall to interrupt him before. "It's in the basement. Of course, you are to bring a house servant with you- someone to stop the machine if need be."

She turned her back on him and drew her weapon. "There won't be any need. You're going to have to buy a new living armor."

_**§SS§**_

Not much later, Mister Schnee's study door opened again, and the gigantic head of his suit of living armor was slammed down on his desk in defiant triumph. "I believe I'll be packing my bags."

His glasses just about fell off his face when he looked at her and the bandages on her head. She'd really done it. "You have my leave, then," he said haughtily. "Go, pack your bags. You accomplished the task I set you to fairly, but you'll be coming back before long."

On the inside, her defiance had made him both angrier and prouder than he'd ever been before. Angry because he'd lost his last bid to keep her home, safe and sound, to continue training her to take his place. Proud because she didn't give in, because she hadn't allowed even the fearsome machine he set to guard the family home to stand in her way.

She left the room, and he sighed, burying his face in his hands and trying to worm out his inner turmoil over her behavior. She went back to her own chambers to begin packing up for Beacon, with a self-satisfied smirk on her face and a song in her heart.

She was her own person, a free person, and nobody would ever take that away from her.


	2. Chapter 2

_"I hate everything about you. Why do I love you?" - Three Days Grace, _I Hate Everything About You

_**§SS§**_

Weiss snarled at her younger sister. The smug brat. Winter Schnee was a nuisance. She wasn't a petite girl, like Weiss was. If anything she looked a little like Yang in some ways. In spite of being a few years Weiss' junior, she looked much older. She had the trademark Schnee hair, white as paper, and the same went for her skin, although, interestingly, she'd inherited her mother's bloody red eyes, a rare but not unheard of feature, and she was rounder of face and thicker about the waist, like her father.

Winter wasn't dumb, but by no means was she smart. And yet she insisted on acting like she was some sort of genius. Weiss found it infuriating. Winter was spoiled, and whined whenever she didn't get her way. Weiss wanted to smack her for it. Winter was Daddy's favorite. Weiss wanted to kill her for it.

Winter wasn't happy with Weiss, either. She always thought of her elder sister as a stuck-up person, far more proud than she deserved to be. Winter wanted to hit her for it. Weiss was abandoning her duty as the heiress by running off to become a huntress. Winter wanted to scream at her for it. Weiss was cruel and blunt, uncaring for her sister's feelings. Winter wanted to throw everything in reach at her for it.

They hated one another. There was no doubt about it. But to keep their father's wrath at bay, they kept themselves civil. This would be the last chance in a while they'd have to glare hatefully. They wouldn't miss it for the world.

"Finally running off to get your glory, Weiss? Good luck," Winter said.

"No, just to neutralize the embarrassment you're going to make of yourself," Weiss replied.

"Really? I thought becoming a common soldier would be a much bigger stain on the little princess' reputation," Winter snorted. Her bravado didn't last long after her elder sister grabbed her by the front of the jacket and slammed her into a wall. Weiss didn't really have to worry about drawing her father's ire- he was at the office and no servants were in sight.

"Huntsmen and huntresses are the cream of the crop in warriors. Insult me like that again. See what happens," the smaller girl said, calm and even in her expression and tone. In spite of being nearly six inches shorter, Weiss managed to be intimidating.

"Losing your temper, big sister? Tut, tut. How shameful," Winter snarked. She got a slap across the face for it. She looked shocked. Maybe even just a little hurt. This was the first time in years that Weiss had actually struck her.

As much as the older girl had always wanted to do that, she immediately felt bad about it. _Maybe that was a little uncalled for._

She dropped Winter and backed away, slightly shocked at her own loss of control. She didn't like this kind of thing from herself. She was supposed to be mature. She hung her head and sighed. "I... Dust. I hate everything about you."

Winter smiled a little, eyes looking a tad moist. "Don't worry. It's okay- I hate everything about you, too."

It was true, they hated one another. But still, they were sisters. They'd been raised together, under the same roof by the same people. There was some love there, too. There had to be. They realized it at the same time, and each pulled the other into an embrace. "I'm going to miss pissing you off," Winter grumbled.

"And I'm going to miss getting you back," Weiss replied.

They sighed simultaneously, and loosened the hug enough to look one another in the eye again. Weiss found that her younger sister- more emotional than herself, for the most part- was starting to cry. "I hate this love-hate relationship we have, Weiss, you know that?"

"So do I," Weiss sighed. "It's been killing Father and it's been killing us."

Winter nodded. Ever impulsive, she found herself overcome by a whim again, and in short order found herself pressing her lips to her elder sister's, wanting to make up for all the love that'd been lost between them over the years, and maybe slipping in a little tongue while she was at it.

Before Weiss fully processed the fact that her sister was trying to have a makeout session with her, she accepted it- for about five seconds, until the shock wore off, at which point she pulled away with a yelp. "Winter!"

Realizing what she'd just done, the younger sibling blushed. "Sorry, caught up in the heat of the moment..."

Weiss sighed and rubbed her temples. She was confused now. What had just happened was disgusting on so many levels, but at the same time she wanted a lot more of it. She called the servants and hastened out early with her things, and never spoke a word to Winter the whole time except for a cordial goodbye, which was returned stiffly.

In the car, Weiss pressed her cheek to the window. She hated Winter so, so much. She hated everything about her. _So why do I love her and why do I want more?_

Weiss shook her head and cleared her mind. Now was not the time. She resolved to avoid Winter for a very, very long time while she tried to understand how she felt. This was not going to be easy. Love-hate relationships, Weiss decided, were terrible.

_**§SS§**_

_**Honestly, this sort of initially began as an excuse for more incest- I've taken to calling this pairing "Blizzard," by the way- but it turned into something a bit more fun. I've always wanted to play with Winter a little anyway, and this is interesting, especially as a possible/probable sequel to the initial chapter of this story.**_

_**I do enjoy the odd unusual pairing- like this- and others seem to feel the same. I really hope you enjoyed this! Now review!**_


End file.
